Financial Freedom

Dividends for October 2014

Another month has passed. Dividends collected for October 2014 was $513.

Main contributors were:
(i) distributions from bond fund
(ii) distribution from ETFs
(iii) OCBC 360 Account (which offers a neat 3%).

Besides that it was the usual from other monthly dividend paying stocks that I hold in my portfolio.

Is the bull market coming to an end?

Lately, after seeing the various stock indices hit their historical highs even amidst the news that the Fed's QE was coming to and end, I started wondering whether the bull market might possibly be coming to an end. One certain sign is the number of people who are probably interested in the stock markets again. We all know for a fact too that this bull run has gone on for some time now. So is this bull market coming to and end?

Some points I consider:

Unemployment rate in US has improved but is still worrying in Europe.
Federal Reserve stopping QE but ECB and BoJ are maintaining low interest rates.
China growth story seems intact.
Stock market still trading around historical P/E ratios.
Oil prices are low which ought to be good for businesses, no?
Investors' interest in stock market and their sentiments.
Low gold prices indicates fear of inflation or hyperinflation is probably low.
"THIS TIME IT IS DIFFERENT" syndrome has not appeared.

From a very rudimentary analysis, it will thus seem that the bull market still has some legs to go. How much longer is anybody's guess. Probably till 2015? What do you think?

Falcao's First Goal for Manchester United Against Everton

So Manchester United won 2-1 against Everton tonight even without the services of Rooney who is out on suspension. Here is Falcao's first goal scored as a Manchester United player:

Angel di Maria's first goal which gave Manchester United the lead is below:

I Didn't Know My Own Strength - Amazing X Factor Performance

Am a semi-fan of X Factor. I like how they spot raw talent. This is an amazing rendition of Whitney Houston's song by Andrea Faustini. I think he does a wonderful version of it. You can check out Whitney Houston's version in the subsequent video below. Which do you think is better?

Happy long weekends!!! (at least for my readers in Singapore)

You can check out other entertaining videos here or here:

Dividends for August and September

Since I am so far behind in my computations for the amount of dividends received, I have combined the money received over the months of August and September 2014.

For August 2014, I received $389 in dividends
For September 2014, I received $396 in dividends

I am setting a year end target of $500 in monthly dividends and hopefully I can achieve it.

There are only 3 more months to go before the year comes to a close so it is quite challenging a goal. I guess I had digress from the earlier goals that I had set out for myself.

Anyway, what strikes me lately in the newspapers is the number of property advertisements. It seems like every other page is filled with an advertisement calling out for people to own a condo either in some exclusive district in Singapore or to own a property in Bangkok/Australia/London, etc. You get the drift. Is this a sign of the times?

Check out my dividends for previous months:

Dividends for July 2014

Have been a little busy to update. Finally found some time to sit down and compile the dividends collected for the month of July 2014. Well, better late than never =)

Dividends collected was $331. Pretty normal.

I have been just too busy to find the time to sit down and write over the past few months. Hopefully, I will get more time soon.

Where I am sitting at right now, the skies are blue and a warm breeze is blowing by. There are so many dreams that remain there for the grabs. At the same time, there is a sense of contentment that I have. Not that I have accomplished much. But perhaps another door is opening and my focus on life has changed.

Please see dividends for other months compiled below:

Dividends for June 2014

It is the end of the June school holidays in Singapore and July is almost upon us. Have compiled my dividends for this month. As most readers do know, I receive cash in my mailbox every month.

Almost $100+ in distributions from unit trusts, $100+ in dividends from stocks and $60+ from various deposit accounts [Check out on the details for the various bank deposit accounts I am using right now in the postings found here and here].

The total amount collected for June 2014 is $282.

Not enough to do anything with it really. Will just have to reinvest into other instruments to keep the monthly income flowing in.

I am quite pleased that I actually had the discipline to compile my monthly dividends for the past few months. It has at least made me more aware of where my dividends have been coming from and how much I have been getting. It sure beats having just a blurry guess-estimate of how much I have been getting. It also serves as a good check on whether I am hitting the goals that I have set for myself.

Please see dividends for other months compiled below:

For those who are interested, do check out the following links:

Articles on retirement, savings, financial planning and investing:

Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs)

Commodities/Gold/Silver

Insurance

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